Why is it that nobody can write a decent focus model?
I've been using Opera on my Mac recently due to some (non-focus related) Safari hate. Opera has a sidebar, where it puts things like a half-assed mail client, a half-assed IRC client, history, bookmarks, a list of current transfers, and the kitchen sink.
Most actions performed on this sidebar result in a new window being opened (for instance, opening an IMAP folder or a history item). but the focus model is totally unclear. If I click on an IMAP folder, then hit "Up" on my keyboard, will it move "Up" one message within that folder, or one folder in the folder-list? This appears to be totally random. I work nearly totally from the keyboard, so this bites.
Unpredictable focus behaviour is worthy of hate, but it gets better. If I've used the sidebar in the current session, even if it is *closed*, it appears to capture my "enter" key. If, for instance, I try to type a search term into a text box, and hit "enter", fully expecting it to "Submit" (pun intended), it instead opens up my last- viewed mail folder, because that is what the side-bar has focused. I wasn't aware that different controls could simultaneously have the focus, let alone pick-and-choose which keys they wanted to receive.
So in order to do anything involving the "Enter" key (like typing a URL), I have to open the "Keyboard viewer," a small application that simulates a keyboard. Strangely, that "enter" key works just fine.
